I have to say I'm quite surprised by this turn of events myself. This is the first time that we have had a region hit the limit since the limit was put in place.

You may still be able to enter your beers. The system will delete entries that were made over 24 or 48 hours ago (I don't recall which it is right now), but that have not been paid for. Keep checking the online registration because new openings will occur.

Midwest closed, too. From what I read in the rules, this has never happened before--and now twice, at least. Bummer. I guess I'll just drink my maibock...

I have a Black IPA, Columbus IPA, Dunkel, Dunkelweizen, German Pils and a Rauchbier to drink. Must have literally been the last entry for the Northeast with a Doppelbock...........once I tried to enter another it was closed

I was disappointed to find out that there was no room in a NATIONAL competition for my beer. War of the Worts, a local competition in the same area, had more than 800 entries and had no problems getting it done.

Maybe it is time to redistribute or add another region in the Northeast. I think the only way to really determine who has the best beer is to give everyone a shot.

I was disappointed to find out that there was no room in a NATIONAL competition for my beer. War of the Worts, a local competition in the same area, had more than 800 entries and had no problems getting it done.

Maybe it is time to redistribute or add another region in the Northeast. I think the only way to really determine who has the best beer is to give everyone a shot.

Hi Curt,

This is the first year we have had one region hit the limit, much less two! The Midwest Region is also closed.

Every year I evaluate the number of entries for each region on a state-by-state basis to determine if realignment is necessary. This year was no exception, but the changes were mainly centered on lowering the entry count in the Midwest region due to the Conference being held there this year. I effectively increased the number of states in the East region, South region and, Northwest region, and decreased the number of states in the Midwest and Southwest regions. I will certainly look at the regions that have hit the limit this year when I realign the regions next year.

The online registration was live on February 26 this year (5 days earlier than last year) because the deadline was moved up one week (April 1). I'm sorry you weren't able to register your entries earlier; I hope you have better luck next year.

Every year I evaluate the number of entries for each region on a state-by-state basis to determine if realignment is necessary. This year was no exception, but the changes were mainly centered on lowering the entry count in the Midwest region due to the Conference being held there this year. I effectively increased the number of states in the East region, South region and, Northwest region, and decreased the number of states in the Midwest and Southwest regions. I will certainly look at the regions that have hit the limit this year when I realign the regions next year.

The online registration was live on February 26 this year (5 days earlier than last year) because the deadline was moved up one week (April 1). I'm sorry you weren't able to register your entries earlier; I hope you have better luck next year.

Janis

I do apologize for the way I worded my statement . While I understand your irritation with my statement ...and my procrastination, please know that I truly appreciate what you and your colleagues do to run this competition.

My gripe is that there are competitions in the Philadelphia area that get 750+ entries. Adding states like NY and NJ, that potentially have a large number of brewers submitting entries to the NHC, likely minimizes the access to this competition for all the brewers in this region.

I should be the one apologizing to you. I am a procrastinator by nature myself, and I don't hold any illusions that I wouldn't have been caught by this rule myself. I'm sorry for the way I worded my reply.

Many large or established clubs can pull off a huge competition, but the organizers of the regional competitions for the NHC don't have the same resources. The NHC regional organizers and judge coordinators are all volunteers, some of whom belong to clubs that have their own competitions. Trying to pull off two large competitions in a year can be draining for the people involved. I think this is especially true if one person organizes the NHC for two or more years in a row.

I'd like to be confident in every regional competitions' ability to run a good competition, do it within budget, and give the entrants the best feedback possible, and the entry limit helps me do that. If you have constructive ideas that can help this competition in the future, please share them with me or anyone on the Competition Sub-committee, and we'll consider them and get back to you.

Another thing you can do is to volunteer to help with a regional competition as a judge, a steward, or in some other way. The more people who get involved, the more entries we might be able to accommodate.

In any event, the state in the Northeast with the highest number of entries last year was PA, followed by NY, MA, NJ, CT, MD, etc. I hope this helps.

Registration was open for 5 or 6 weeks. I entered a beer last week and the count for the North East was still under 500 - so a week before the deadline there was still a whole 1/3rd of the slots available.